Engineering Innovation in
E-Health
The research project allows early detection of COVID-19 cases, providing a complete solution for contact tracing based on a anonymous physical token.
Approach & Solution
Approach
The COVID-19 Pandemic has created an unprecedented need to track people’s movements in order to limit virus transmission. Contact tracing makes it possible to break the chain of infection transmission through the rapid identification of all the people that a COVID-19 infected person has come in contact with.
Proximate proposes to any organization of people sharing an experience in space and time (e.g. sport facilities, leisure facilities, schools, universities, private and public organizations) a wearable device, small, cheap, anonymous and using standard technology to avoid lock-in.
Proximate proposes to any organization of people sharing an experience in space and time (e.g. sport facilities, leisure facilities, schools, universities, private and public organizations) a wearable device, small, cheap, anonymous and using standard technology to avoid lock-in.
Solution
The complete solution is composed by: a wearable device (token), a dedicated app for COVID Manager / Health Operator (running on iOS/Android), the back-end system to manage infected list and a gateway using BLE technology to broadcast the infected list to the tokens.
The token protects people's privac, is chosen randomly, and no one is able to connect people to the serial number. In case of a positive COVID-19 test of the owner of the wearable device this will notify to the system the serial number and a notification is broadcasted to nearby tokens. No one is informed about the status of the owner of the wearable device and no one is in the position to know where and when he/she has been in contact with an infected person.
Engineering is project coordinator and responsible for the product development.
The project has received co-funding by EIT Digital in the Digital Wellbeing - Action Line for 2020, specifically under the EIT Crisis Response Initiative to tackle the COVID-19 crisis.
Results
Easy to use, inclusive, safe, affordable and anonymous wearable device
Standard technology that avoids lock-in
Solution that solves the laborious task of tracing contacts
Project value
Innovation
Cost cutting
Enabling Technologies
IoT
Project Team
Research & Innovation